Persona: Darkness
by Shini Kurogane
Summary: In other universes, he is the Messiah who saves humanity from the encroaching darkness and from their own dark thoughts. But what if in a certain universe, he is somehow the embodiment of those very dark thoughts? The personification of Darkness? Can he still save humanity? Or will he have to take another path? No one knows.
1. 0 - The Fool

_This fic... is something that is born way before I even have account at this site. Not exactly like this, but close to it. I don't know why, but I just started writing this since March, and here is the prologue. Like all of my fics, it's obviously an AU. What kind of scenario though, feel free to take a look. Happy Reading.  
_

 _P.S. I own nothing except the plot. And please ignore the other Persona fic I have.  
_

* * *

Persona: Darkness

Prologue

0 - The Fool

 _"Remember, Minato. Never run away from the darkness, do not fear it," the voice of a woman sounded out amidst the blaze that was burning down the bridge._

 _"B-but, t-the voice, and the shadows, they are scary," a voice of a boy, not older than 7, said to the woman._

 _"Even if they are scary, that doesn't mean they're evil, right?" a voice of a man sounded out this time._

 _"Well, some actually sounded really sad, and there's one that said it just wants to protect its friends, though some did sound evil," the boy replied._

 _"See, not all darkness is bad, just like not all light is good. Remember this, Minato, good or bad doesn't lie in light or darkness, they all depend on the person," the woman said again._

 _"So, Minato, do not run away. Face the darkness, accept it, for no human can live in light without in darkness and so do the opposite. And I hope with time, you will realize how gifted you are," the man continued._

 _"And lastly, Minato, remember, we love you," the woman said lastly, before the raging flame consumed everything on the boy's vision._

 _"Mom! Dad!" the boy cried out._

 _As he lost his consciousness, he saw a shadow, with a skull on its face. As it looked at the boy, it said, "Father?"_

* * *

Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

You, who wish to safeguard the future,

however limited it may be...

You will be given one year;

go forth without falter,

with your heart as your guide...

 _(Insert Burn My Dread)_

* * *

"Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We apologize to any customers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai...," the announcement rung out inside the nearly deserted train, Anehazuru.

A teenage male opened his bluish steel grey eyes as he was woken up by the announcement. After yawning, he rubbed his tired eyes and dragged his hand through the tresses of his cobalt blue hair.

"Iwatodai. This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please take care to board before our departure," the announcement rung out once again as the the train's door opened. Minato then stepped out of the train. Looking at the clock in the station, he noticed that it's already so late at night. With his headphones blasting music right into his ears, he walked out of the station.

As soon as he stepped outside, the world all around him suddenly became bathed in green light, with blood-like red substance flowing on the street and an eerie gigantic moon up in the sky. A lot of coffin-like objects lining the street. As he looked at his surroundings, Minato just sighed and then started walking again.

After a while, he arrived in front of a building. Looking at the pamphlet in his hand, he made sure that it's the place he was looking for. He then climbed up the stairs and tried to turn the door's knob and open the door, which he succeeded in doing.

"Welcome," a voice sounded out as soon as Minato stepped into the building.

A young boy, around 10 years old, was standing right in the middle of lounge. His curly black hair framed his smiling face. His blue eyes shone with mirth as if he has been waiting for Minato's arrival.

"You're late, you know. I've been waiting for a long time," the boy pouted. Minato just looked at the boy with exasperated stare.

"I see..., well," the boy then held out a piece of paper.

"If you want to proceed, then please sign here. It's a contract. There's no need to be scared. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions," the boy said.

As Minato looked over the contract, he saw something was written on it.

'I chooseth this fate of mineown free will.'

Below the writing was the blank place to sign his name. Once Minato signed the contract, the boy spoke again.

"... Very well. Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing won't make it go away. And so it begins..."

"I really hope that you will succeed, Tou-san...," the boy mysteriously said before he disappeared into thin air.

'Cheeky brat,' Minato thought.

As he continued to stand in the lounge, Minato didn't realise that there's someone else who came down the stairs.

"... Who's there!? How can you be... But it's...! Don't tell me...," a voice, seemed to be a girl, spoke incoherently. Minato could see something resembling a gun in her hand. Before any of them could do anything though, a new sounded out.

"Wait, Takeba!"

 **7th April 2009, Tuesday**

The lights suddenly came back to normal. Now Minato could clearly see just who is it that talked to him. The girl in front of him, the one who first talked to him, Minato assumed, had neck-length light brown hair and brown hair. She also wore pink sweater jacket over what Minato assumed was the school uniform. From where Minato stood, he could see that the girl was shorter than him.

The other girl meanwhile, had long dark red hair that also covered her left eye. Her eyes were reddish brown, from what Minato could see from her right eye. Like the first girl, this one also shorter than he was, albeit only slightly. Unlike the first girl however, she wore the school uniform without any additional changes, well, except you counted the black knee-high high-heeled boots, of course.

"The lights...," the first girl said.

"*cough* I think we should sit down first," the second girl tried to break the awkward situation. Minato nodded as the three of them moved and sat down in the lounge.

"To be honest, I didn't think you'd arrive so late," the second girl started the conversation.

"The train got delayed a couple of times. Sorry if I cause any inconveniences because of it," Minato answered.

"There's no need for apologies. It's not your fault, after all. Now, let me introduce myself. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm," the second girl, Mitsuru, introduced herself.

"My name is Arisato Minato. Nice to meet you," Minato likewise introduced himself.

"... Who's he?" the first girl asked.

"He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. It's only temporary though. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm" Mitsuru answered.

"But... Is it okay for him to be here?" the first girl asked again.

"I guess we'll see...," the second girl just closed her eyes and smiled.

As the girls talked among themselves, Minato stayed silent while observing the girls.

'What they're talking about... And the first girl's reaction... They're hiding something. And added with the fact that both of them were perfectly fine during **it** , who are they?' Minato silently thought.

"This is Takeba Yukari. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you," Mitsuru finally introduced the first girl.

"Hi, I'm Yukari," Yukari introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you, Takeba-san," Minato said.

"Uh, y-yeah. Nice to meet you too...," Takeba stuttered.

"It's getting too late, so you should get some rest. Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there," Mitsuru said.

"Oh... I'll show you the way. Follow me," Yukari said in a cheery tone.

Once Minato and Yukari arrived at the front of Minato's room, Yukari then said, "This is it... Pretty easy to remember, huh? ... Since it's right at the end of the hall. So, any questions?"

"No, no questions," Minato answered.

"I see. Um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?" Yukari asked in a hesitant tone.

"Yeah, nothing is wrong," Minato smoothly lied, or maybe just said the truth. The truth was different to each person, after all. For Minato, what he just saw a few minutes before was perfectly normal.

"I see... Never mind, then. Well, I'd better get going...," Yukari said as she started walking towards the stairs at the other end of the hallway. After a few steps though, she then stopped and turned back.

"Um... I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night," Yukari then continued walking.

Minato then opened the door to his assigned room using the key that had been given to him. Once he got in, he locked the door.

'Let's see... A bed, a TV, a small fridge, a mirror and a sink, a desk with my books already set up on it. Not too bad,' Minato thought as he changed up into his sleepwears and lied on his bed.

'Now, let's see how this year will turn out, shall we?'

* * *

 _That's it for the prologue. I know, compared to my other works, this one is probably the shortest, but with something that is already as planned as Persona, I guess it's obvious. As you can see, I named the chapters after Arcanas, which you can know now means this will end at The World. This fic is the most planned and structured out of my fic, and since I don't really off canon too much, I guess there's little spoilers here except here and there. Anyway,_ _ _feel free to ask me via PM or review if you have any questions.  
__

 _ _May We Meet Again.__

 _ _P.S. I'm conflicted whether to use Minato or Makoto as the MC's name, so Minato is just temporary until I'm really sure. Please share with me your thoughts over this, since I think this's something the readers would prefer to have a say in.__


	2. I - The Magician

_First of all, I'm not dead, yet, nearly died though, just kidding. *cough* Okay, so this story is published last September and hasn't been updated since then, for that I'm sorry. I always maintain a balance of updating my 4 ongoing stories one by one, and this story was supposed to be updated in January. Why that changed, you may ask. Well, my professor retired, so I have to redo my thesis from the beginning under a new professor and with a new topic. And well, redoing your thesis isn't exactly a walk in the park, at least for me. *sigh* Story of my life. Anyway, enough of my mopping, you guys come here for my story anyway, so here you go. Happy Reading._

 _P.S. I own nothing except the plot. And please ignore the other Persona fic I have. And also thank you for those who have followed, favorited, and reviewed this story._

* * *

Chapter I - The Magician

 **7th April 2009, Tuesday**

As Minato finished wearing his new school uniform, he heard knocking from his door. He could faintly hear Yukari's voice from behind the door.

"Hey, it's Yukari. Are you awake?" Yukari asked.

Minato answered by unlocking the door and opened it.

"Good morning. Did you sleep okay?"

Minato just nodded to answer.

"Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. Are you ready to go?"

Minato nodded again.

"Okay. Then, let's go," Yukari said as she walked out of the room.

* * *

Minato looked out of the window of the New City passenger train, Anehazuru. From inside of the train, he could see most of the artificial island that was Tatsumi Port Island.

"We have to take the monorail to get there. Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?" Yukari said, snapping Minato out of his musings.

"No, not really."

"Well, this is my favorite part... when it feels like you're gliding over the sea. Our stop is Port Island Station at the end of the line. From there, we walk. Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? It's a man-made island. They built our school right in the middle. Oh, look, you can see it now!" Yukari exlaimed and pointed to something outside of the train.

The school was huge, even compared to all of Minato's previous school. And Minato at least changed school once a year, so that's saying something. From the entrance to the school complex, Minato could see blooming Sakura trees lining the way to the main school building.

* * *

"Mornin'!" a female student called out to them.

"Morning!" Yukari replied.

Standing in front of the school's entrance, Minato somehow felt in his very soul that something was very different regarding this school. The whispers that he had heard along the way here had somehow became stronger and clearer the closer he got to school. As he got older, Minato had mastered his "ability" in hearing the whispers that he could unconsciously choose which one he would hear and which one would be muffled. This time, however, all of the whispers managed to pierce through his subconscious. It's fortunate that Minato was already used to them, or he wouldn't be able to function at all.

"Well, here we are... Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here! C'mon!" Yukari exclaimed. Both of them then entered the school. As soon as he entered the school complex, Minato confirmed it. There's something in this school, and he felt that it's somehow connected to him.

"You're okay from here, right?" Yukari asked once they're inside the school.

"You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left. ... And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?"

"No, not really," Minato answered.

"I see... Hey... About last night... Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? ... See ya later," Yukari then left to her class.

After Yukari left, Minato turned to look at his surrounding.

'Well, what should I do now? Should I just go to the Faculty Office now, or...,' Minato contemplated. He then saw some students gathering in front of the bulletin board.

'Hm, I should probably checked which class I'm in first. Let's see here... Hm... Where is it? Oh, there,' Minato thought as he looked at a small note on the board.

'Arisato Minato - Class F, huh. My homeroom teacher is Ms. Toriumi. Hm? It seems I'm in the same class as Takeba-san. Well, I guess it's time to go to the Faculty Office,' Minato then walked towards the Faculty Office according to Yukari's direction.

* * *

Homeroom had ended, so Minato just decided to laze around first in the classroom before he left the school. To be honest, his mood wasn't really that good ever after meeting . Sure, it's not her fault that she hadn't read his files all this time, but did she really have to mention it? Even now, he could still see it clearly if he closed his eyes. The raging fire, his parents, still trapped inside the car, the sound of gunshots, and especially, the shadow with skull as head.

"Oi, dude."

"Hey."

"HEY!"

At the shout, Minato woke up startled and his head hit the person behind him in accident.

"Ow, ow, ow! Hey, man, look before you just headbutt someone on their nose, will ya?" the student who just shouted rubbed his nose.

Looking at the student, Minato asked, "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in 8th grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid... So I wanted to say, 'hey' ... See what a nice guy I am!"

"..." both of Minato and Yukari, who came to see what's the commotion about, were just silent at the male student.

The male student had tanned skin, with dark buzzcut hair under his cap, a goatee, and grayish eyes. From what Minato saw, Junpei seemed to be slighly taller than him.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again," Junpei said with a grin.

"*sigh* At it again, huh? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?" Yukari asked in exasperation.

"What? But, I was just bein' friendly," Junpei plead.

"If you say so...," Yukari said, not believing it one bit. "Anyway, some coincidence that we'd be in the same homeroom... Funny, huh?"

Minato just nodded at Yukari's statement.

"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" Junpei tried to pull attention to his existence.

"Anyway," Junpei said in cheery voice, "I heard that you two came to the school together this morning. What's up with that? C'mon, gimme the dirt!"

"Wh-what are you talking about?!" Yukari stuttered. "We just live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay? Why are people even talking about it, anyway?! Now you have me worried..."

"Hey...," Yukari suddenly whispered to Minato. "You didn't say anything to anyone about... you know what, did you?"

Minato just leaned his head.

"Don't tell me you forgot already! Seriously... Don't say anything about last night, alright?"

"...," Junpei just stared at the other two with unbelieving stare.

"Wh-what?" Yukari said, unnerved by Junpei's stare.

"L-last night...?" Junpei asked, drwaing his own conclusion.

"W-wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea! Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's nothing between us! Geez...," Yukari explained.

"Look, I've gotta go. I've got something to take care of for the archery team. But, you better not start any rumors!" Yukari then left the classroom.

"Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid...," Junpei said in exasperation.

"But, hey! It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's actually popular. You da man!" Junpei said in a very excited manner. "Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year, I can feel it!"

Minato just gave a small smile at the boy's antics.

'Don't worry, I won't cheat,' Minato silently thought, and the grumbling inside his head stopped.

* * *

 **8th April 2009, Wednesday**

"Welcome to the Velvet Room," an old man with glaring eyes and immpossibly long nose said.

That was the first thing said to Minato once he closed his eyes to sleep. He knew that outside it should be happening, so this might be connected to it. Except the meeting with Junpei yesterday, there's nothing that was meaningful, so Minato went to bed early, and also because he's a bit tired. Today though, Minato met him.

To say that the man known as Ikutsuki Shuji was unique would be an understatement. Minato knew that everyone had darkness inside of them. Junpei had them, Yukari had them, and even Mitsuru had them though in a slightly bigger quantity than the former two. That man though, was something else entirely. All of Minato's alarms went off in that man's presence, and so Minato did whatever he could to get away.

"My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquintance," the old man, Igor, introduced himself.

"This is Elizabeth. She's a resident here, like myself," Igor introduced the other person, being, there in the place besides himself.

"Pleased to meet you," the young woman, Elizabeth, said. She had short white hair and yellow eyes. If Minato had to comment on her, he would say that she was beautiful in a mysterious sort-of-way. And there went the grumbling inside his head again.

"This place exists between dreamand reality, mind and matter... Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place...," Igor said, showing the contract that Minato had signed a few days ago in front of him.

"Henceforth, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. You are destined to hone your unique ability, and you will require my help to do so. I only ask one thing in return... that you abide by the contract, and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

"I understand," Minato nodded.

"Hold on to this...," Igor then gave Minato a bluish purple colored key.

"'Til we meet again..."

* * *

 **9th April 2009, Thursday**

Once Minato woke up, he couldn't help but be reminded of the strange dream he just had. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he just went to the bathroom to take a shower. Once he's done, Minato directly went to school. Once school's done, Junpei had offered a tour around the Paulownia Mall, where students usually hanged out once the school was over. There were cafe, karaoke box, arcade, pharmacy, police office and CD stores. There were also a club and a closed shop which seemed to be an antique shop. Right now though, Minato was too tired to even do any extra studying, so he decided to just hit the bed. All in all, it's quite the eventful day.

* * *

Minato awoke to the loud noise that seemed to have come from the lower floor. Changing his clothes to a more casual and comfortable one, he decided to go and take a look. When he went to open the door though, Minato heard loud knocking on his door and a frantic Yukari.

"Wake up! Sorry, I'm coming in!" Yukari then forced her way in using something that seemed to be a spare key.

"I don't have time to explain. We have to get out of here, now!" Yukari said in a hurried tone. Minato just nodded at that.

"Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!" Yukari then turn to leave. Before she went outside though, she gave Minato a short sword.

"... Take this. Just in case," Yukari said. Receiving the weapon, Minato then followed Yukari outside.

Yukari thought that both she and Minato would be safe once they reach the back door. Well, it turned out she's wrong. There're two of the things, and it seemed the other one whom Akihiko saw was the one chasing them.

Frantically running up the stairs and the floors, Yukari only let out a relieved sigh once they reached the rooftop and locked the door, thinking that they're safe. Well, sad to say, but she's wrong once again.

It appeared, crawling the wall using its numerous arms that seemed to be too many to count. The arms that weren't used to move were holding silver swords, one for each arm. Its face, or what seemed to be the face, was a blue colored mask with a face of a sad expression with the Roman numeric I on its forehead.

"You gotta be kidding me...! It climbed up the wall...?!" Yukari exclaimed, not believing what she saw.

"That's the thing that attacked this place... We call them Shadows!" Yukari explained.

"O-oh yeah... I have to fight... I... I can summon mine... No problem...," Yukari suddenly became scared of something, something that seemed to be not the giant 'Shadow'.

Pulling something from a holster on her thigh, Minato recognized it to be the same gun that she had on her on the night where Minato first arrived at the dorm. Putting the muzzle on her forehead, she tried to pull the trigger, and yet she's paralysed because of the implication of what she would do. Before she had any time to strengthen her will though, the giant Shadow attacked using its swords. Receiving the direct brunt of the attack, Yukari was thrown off wuite far, though Minato's sure she just fell unconscious.

Picking up Yukari's gun that was thrown off to his direction as a result from the Shadow's attack, Minato looked at it for a moment before paying his attention back to the Shadow.

"I know what you are... And you should know, or feel, what I am... Is there no way to settle this peacefully, o Magician?" Minato said in a voice that could only be heard by the thing. How he could even pull it off, nobody knew.

Unfortunately, the Shadow didn't give any reaction if it even caught what Minato had said. Sighing to himself for what he would have to do, Minato steeled his resolve. Putting the gun's muzzle to his temple as easy as putting on a pair of glasses, Minato uttered the words that would seal his fate.

"So be it... Per... so... na..."

Pulling the trigger, Minato could hear the sound of a glass breaking, along with the sound of something being summoned, released from within his mind. Appearing behind him was a something resembling the shape of man, and yet from a glance it could be seen that its body was mechanical in nature. If one were to look at its face, they would find that its face was identical to Minato, the one who summoned him, only with white hair, black skin, and blue eyes. A giant harp could be seen on its back.

"Thou art I...

And I am thou...

From the sea of thy soul I cometh...

I am Orpheus, Master of Strings..."

Examining his connection with 'Orpheus' within his mind, Minato was sure that this so called 'Persona' would follow his every commands. Commanding Orpheus to attack, the newborn Persona glided through the air and bashed his harp on the Shadow, though it seemed to be not very effective.

'It's not working...,' Minato thought.

'You're not strong enough at the moment, Tou-san. Let me help you.'

'... But your condition.'

'Don't worry. You've just awoken. It's enough for me to manifest even if only for a while.'

'... Alright. Do it.'

Once Minato gave the permission, he suddenly felt an excrutiating pain in his head, along with a series of breaking glass' sound. Clutching his head, Minato tried his hardest to not let out the scream that had piled up in his throat. Even Orpheus didn't escape from the same fate. The Persona also clutched his head as it floated in the air. After a while though, it's clear that Minato could no longer hold himself back, and so let out a bloodcurdling scream.

"RAAAAHHHH!"

Black mists appeared and surrounded Orpheus, solidyfing around him. Making it seemed as if Orpheus was contained inside a cocoon. Soon enough though, a pair of white gloved hands bursted out from within the cocoon. Ripping the cocoon open, a demonic skull with gaping maw and hollow eyes, the only semblance of a face it had, could be seen emerging from within the cocoon. Once it fully appeared, Minato could see the 8 floating metal coffins that were chained together to the shoulders of the being's body. Its body was clad with a black military uniform with red border, with a black belt featuring a golden buckle with the Totenkopf emblem on it. A long single-edged blade could be seen attached to the belt.

"GRAAAAAHHHH!"

The being let out a bloodcurdling scream as it pulled the sword from its sheath and charged towards the giant shadow. It continued its numbing scream as it slashed and pummeled the Shadow with berserk abandon. The Shadow stood no chance against the death personified. None of its swords could pierce the being's skin, and even the flame it summoned could do nothing against the being.

Soon enough, the slaughter ended. The eerie being glided to in front of Minato and nodded, as if saying that it's done doing what it seeked to do. With a flash of black light, the being changed back to Orpheus, which then dissapeared into blue colored glass fragments.

Slumping to his rear, Minato was breathing heavily as the adrenaline had stopped and now he could feel the extreme fatigue he was under. He only managed because of his sheer willpower and the stamina that he had nurtured throughout the years. Before he could rest though, he could hear knockings on the door to the rooftop. Figuring it must be Mitsuru, he stood up from where he sat tiredly and trudged towards the door.

Along the way to the door, Minato once again heard the voice within its head.

'It has begun, Tou-san...'

'Yeah. And I swear, we will not fail...'

* * *

 _So, that's the official chapter 1. Kinda short, I know, and the pacing is kinda all over the place, but I tried to follow normal Persona pacing while adding my own twists, but I guess it isn't a complete success. Anyway,_ _feel free to ask me via PM or review if you have any questions._

 _May We Meet Again._


	3. II - The Priestess

_So I managed to write this between the time I write my thesis. There're some doubts on when the story will finally diverge from canon, so I will tell you guys that the deviation will begin here._ _Like usual, before we begin, I want to say thank you to those that have followed, favorited, and reviewed this humble side project. That means so much for me. Anyway, t_ _hat's all I have to say now. Happy Reading._

* * *

Chapter II - The Priestess

'This is... the "Velvet Room", isn't it...?' Minato thought. After the fight against the Magician, both Minato and Yukari were excused from the school that day due to exhaustion. So once he took another shower, Minato decided to continue his interrupted sleep.

"It's so nice to see you again. It seems you have successfully managed to awaken your 'power'. I see that it was Orpheus that heeded your calling. That power is called Persona... It is a manifestation of your psyche," Igor said.

"A Persona is a facet of your personality that surfaces as you react to external stimuli... You can think of it as a mask that protects you as you brave many hardships. When you use your Persona ability, you must channel your inner strength. The ability evolves as you develop your 'Social Links', your emotional ties with others. The stronger your Social Links, the more powerful your Persona ability. Please remember that," Igor elaborated.

"Now, then... Time marches on in your world. I shouldn't keep you here any longer. Next time we meet, you will come here of your own accord. Until then... Farewell," Igor concluded as Minato's consciousness disappeared from the Velvet Room.

* * *

 **11th April 2009, Saturday**

Once the school ended, Minato quickly got back to the dorm. At the morning, Yukari told him that there was something that he must knew, and so he was told to go back to the dorm after the school was done, specifically the 4th floor.

Reaching the 4th floor, Minato could recognize the face of Yukari, Mitsuru, and the Chairman. There was also an unfamiliar male student sitting there.

"Ah, there you are. I'm glad that you're okay. The reason I asked you here is because I needed to talk to you. Please, have a seat," Ikutsuki said. Once Minato sat on the couch, Ikutsuki continued.

"Oh, before that. I believe I mentioned him earlier, but this is Akihiko, Sanada Akihiko," Ikutsuki gestured towards the unfamiliar male student.

"How ya doin'?" Akihiko greeted. From him, Minato could feel the same intensity of darkness as Mitsuru, maybe a bit weaker. But since he seemed to have a handle over it, Minato deemed the young man not in danger.

"Okay, let me start off by asking you this...," Ikutsuki taking control of the conversation again.

"Would you believe me if I said that a day consists of more than 24 hours?" Ikutsuki asked. Minato just nodded in affirmation, resulting in quite the surprised expressions on the others' face.

"I see... And do tell, why do you believe it?" Ikutsuki asked again.

'... Looks like I can't nod or shake my way out of this one. And lying might make them suspicious of me,' Minato thought.

"... I assume you're talking about the green sky and coffins...?" Minato tried to test the water.

"Ah, yes. If I remember correctly, Mitsuru told me that you first arrived at this dorm during such time. If you're willing, can you share with us since when you experienced that?"

"... Ever since I can remember, so... since 10 years ago, maybe...," Minato answered a bit reluctantly. It wasn't good to share all of your cards, after all.

"Wait, ten years?!" Yukari suddenly shouted.

"Wait, Mr. Chairman, isn't the Dark Hour reportedly has been going on for 10 years as well?!" Mitsuru asked.

"That's right. Please tell me, when was you first completely conscious about the Dark Hour?" Ikutsuki asked again, now in more serious manner.

"Hm... it... might be a few days after the... accident...," Minato said, reluctantly remembering when it happened.

"The accident? What do you mean?" Yukari asked, quite insensitively.

"Ah, I've read about it. 10 years ago, you lost your parents due to a car crash at the Moonlight Bridge. You have my condolences," Ikutsuki said, though Minato didn't detect an ounce of sympathy from it.

"I see... There's a theory that the Potential might surface due to trauma. It might be a coincidence then that your realisation of the Dark Hour was around the same time when it began," Mitsuru concluded. It wasn't an exactly right conclusion, but Minato wouldn't correct it.

"Then, I guess this will make the explanations easier. As you know, the Dark Hour occurs each night at midnight. It'll happen tonight, and every night to come."

"Normal people don't realise it, since they're all sleeping inside their coffins. But, that's not what makes the Dark Hour so interesting. ...You saw those creatures. We call them "Shadows." They only appear during the Dark Hour, and attack anyone not in a coffin. It's our job to defeat them. ...Sounds exciting, huh?" Akihiko said eagerly. Minato frowned at that. He realised that the young man might not have kept a handle on his darkness as well as he thought.

"Akihiko! Why are you always like that? You just got hurt the other day!" Mitsuru scolded.

"Now, now. He does his work well. Long story short... We're the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad - SEES for short. On paper, we're classified as a school club. But in reality, this group is dedicated to defeating the Shadows. Mitsuru is the leader. I'm the club advisor," Ikutsuki explained.

"A Shadow feeds on the mind of it's prey; the victim becomes a living corpse. They're responsible for most of the incidents on the news, if not all of them," Mitsuru added.

'As expected, they're the cause of Apathy Syndrome.'

"And, how do you fight them?" Minato asked.

"Although rare, there are those who can function during the Dark Hour. Some may even awaken to a power that enables them to fight the Shadows. That's 'Persona' - the power you used the other night. The Shadows can only be defeated by Persona-users. Which means, it's all up to you guys," Ikutsuki said.

"You... don't have a Persona..., Ikutsuki-san?" Minato politely asked.

"No, no, sadly, I'm not a Persona user. I'm just a normal human gaining ability to be active during the Dark Hour through... certain processes."

"I see..."

"I'm glad you're quick to understand. Mitsuru, if you may?"

Mitsuru then proceeded to open the case on the table. Inside the case, Minato could see a familiar silver gun gleaming uncannily.

"What Mr. Chairman wants to say is, he wants you to join us. We've prepared an Evoker for you. It's the device that we use to summon our Personas, as you know. We'd like you to lend us your strength," Mitsuru explained.

"Alright," Minato answered without hesitation.

"... That's fast. I thought we would need to persuade you more. *sigh* Anyway, welcome aboard!" Yukari congratulated.

"Thank you so much for joining us, I'm really glad. Oh, I almost forgot... About your room assignment... Why don't you just stay here, in your current dorm? I don't know what the holdup is, but I guess it worked out in the end," Ikutsuki chuckled.

"Holdup? But wasn't that- Oh, never mind...," Yukari said.

As the group had a little celebration for the new member, a voice rang in Minato's head.

"Thou art I... And I am thou...

Thou hast established a new bond...

Thou shalt be blessed when creating Personas of the Fool Arcana..."

'... That is...'

'That must be the so-called "Social Links" that Igor mentioned before. If what Igor said is true, you will become stronger as you established more bonds with others and strengthen them, Tou-san,' Pharos answered.

* * *

As the clock ticked to midnight, the world was once again plunged into Dark Hour. Opening his eyes, Minato could feel a familiar presence.

"Good night, Tou-san," Pharos greeted as both him and Minato sat on the bed.

"Hey, Pharos," Minato smiled at his "son".

"Your new friends seem to be really nice, Tou-san. Well, except the obvious one. I agree with you, he's hiding his true intention but he's certainly dangerous," Pharos said.

Minato nodded at that before speaking, "How's the progress?"

"... It's... not going as we expected," Pharos answered. Seeing Minato's questioning look, Pharos continued, "Although I'm not... complete, I still have awakened to what I am, and therefore I should be able to contact Kaa-san. Yet..."

"Yet?"

"Yet there is... something... interfering with my effort. Whenever I tried to contact Kaa-san, these static buzzes and chaotic murmurs would appear and block my effort. It's like my voice was drowned in the chaotic noises, and so couldn't reach her."

"I see..."

"What should we do now?" Pharos asked. Minato could see that the boy was scared for his "mother".

Sighing, Minato put his hand atop Pharos' head, ruffling the boy's hair a bit.

"For now, just keep trying to contact her, but don't let that being notice your presence. Don't worry, Pharos, we will save your mother," Minato assured. With Minato's assurance, Pharos finally smiled.

"Yes, you're right, Tou-san. We will certainly save Kaa-san. Oh... my time here is coming to a close. I guess, see you later then, Tou-san," Pharos said as he got up from the bed and started to disappear.

"And remember, just because your female friends are pretty, doesn't mean you can cheat on Kaa-san!" Pharos added mischievously before finally gone.

'*sigh* Cheeky brat,' Minato thought ruefully.

* * *

 **13th April 2009, Monday**

Monday came and so began another week. Yesterday, all of Minato's things finally arrived at the dorm, so he spent the day organizing his things. While Minato was curious about SEES, it seemed there wouldn't be any activities for now.

"Mornin'. Um... Thanks about yesterday," Yukari greeted Minato as he neared the school gate.

"Akihiko-senpai is injured, and I was really uneasy about working alone with Mitsuru-senpai... So once again, thanks."

"Injury?" Minato asked. He heard Mitsuru on the other day mentioning that Akihiko was hurt, but he didn't know the circumstances behind it.

"Yeah, Akihiko-senpai was attacked by that giant Shadow. He said that he injured his ribs a little...," Yukari explained.

'Ah, so that how is it. The boy got hurt because of his recklessness. Tsk, tsk, tsk,' a voice spoke in Minato's mind. Not offering any comment, Minato then entered the school.

* * *

To say Minato was surprised wouldn't be... exactly right. To be honest, Minato subconsciously expected Junpei to join SEES. It somehow just felt right in Minato's opinion. What surprised Minato was the fact that during the Dark Hour, his school would transform into this eerie-giant-tower-slash-labyrinth-slash-Shadow-nest called Tartarus. Minato had experienced quite many surreal things ever since 10 years ago, but this took the top. And to think he was also chosen to lead the exploration group...

"Hey, are you alright?" Yukari snapped Minato out from his musings. Looking at the Velvet Key in his hands, Minato realised that his latest encounter with Igor a few moments ago was not a dream.

"Yeah, what's up? You look like a zombie," Junpei added.

"Nothing. Let's go," Minato replied, climbing the stairs to Tartarus' entrance.

* * *

Fighting Shadows was... a new experience for Minato. Finding the Shadows was easy, what wasn't was finding ones that were willing to fight the group. Mitsuru herself could only came up with the assumption that the group was somehow too strong for the Shadows, hence the latter tried to run. While Junpei goofed off, thinking that he was apparently really strong, Minato knew the Shadows were running away from him, their king.

But that didn't mean the exploration was fruitless. There were still some Shadows daring enough to attack them, which Pharos dubbed as renegade Shadows. All in all, it was a pretty fulfilling night for the group as they grasped the basics of fighting and using their Personas, though personally Minato didn't quite like his current short sword, preferring another kind of weapon. Mitsuru was confused of the smaller numbers of Shadows, but didn't put further thoughts into it. After the floor was completely explored, Mitsuru called the night and ordered the group to return to the entrance.

As the group returned to the dorm, Minato could feel the bond between him and the group, the Social Link, strengthened. He just hoped everything kept going smoothly like this.

* * *

"AAAAHHHHH!" a shrill scream could be heard inside a room located in an unknown place. Inside the room, only something resembling a broken egg could be seen. Inside the broken egg, sat a masculine figure whose face covered with tentacles.

"What a pity. If only you surrendered when I offered... Well, no matter. With she gone, now there's no one that can obstruct my plan, except the chosen one, that is. Let's see how your 'protagonist' fares this time, shall we, Philemon?" After that, the egg repaired itself, showing no trace that it was ever broken, bathing the room under a pale green eerie light. Under the light, the source of the shrill scream from before was nowhere to be found.

* * *

 _I know I'm not the most subtle of writer and so I know that most of you probably realise what happened in that last paragraph. I just ask that all of you be patient because the plot should take up next chapter, once we get into the Empress and Emperor Shadows. Anyway, i_ _f you have any questions, feel free to ask either via review or PM, and I will try to answer them as best as I can if they don't contain spoilers, well to an extent._

 _May We Meet Again._


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